Hearing of writ against Koshi government postponed

KATHMANDU: The hearing scheduled for today on the writ against the Koshi government has been postponed.

A bench of Supreme Court (SC) Justice Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada was scheduled to hear the case involving Koshi Province Chief Minister Uddhav Thapa.

The hearing was adjourned after Justice Khatiwada refused to hear the case saying that he had already given his point of view during the preliminary hearing.

Previously, the initial hearing of the case took place before Justice Khatiwada’s sole jurisdiction, during which he declared the process by which Uddhav Thapa’s vote as Chief Minister was obtained as unconstitutional.

Hikmat Karki, the CPN-UML Parliamentary Party leader for Koshi Province, submitted a writ petition to the SC, asserting that the vote of confidence in favor of Thapa’s appointment as Chief Minister of Koshi Province was unconstitutional.

On August 24, the SC issued an interim order to the Koshi state government, instructing it not to make policy decisions with long-term significance and widespread consequences.

Karki has identified Koshi Province Chief Parshuram Khapung and Chief Minister Thapa as the defendants in the case.